On June 16, 1956, Dr. Ambedkar founded the Bombay State Inferior Village Vatandar Association. Through this organization, he gave new direction and momentum to the struggle against the oppressive Vatan system.
On June 16, 1956, 70 years ago, Dr. Ambedkar founded the Bombay State Inferior Village Vatandar Association, and he was also its president. Through this organization, he gave new direction and momentum to the struggle against the oppressive Vatan system. For decades, Babasaheb had been campaigning against the Mahar Vatans.
This hereditary village service system deprived marginalized communities of their dignity, land rights, and economic independence. He sought constitutional and legislative solutions to ensure justice for the Vatandars and end this system based on social inequality. On this day, he organized affected communities to eradicate the Vatan system through democratic and legal means.
Members of the Mahar community were required to perform compulsory services such as village security, delivering messages, and assisting in administrative work. The land they were granted in return was called ‘Mahar Watan Bhumi’.
The Watan system was a hereditary system prevalent in the villages of Maharashtra for centuries. Under this system, certain families, particularly members of the Mahar community, were granted Watan land in exchange for various village services such as watchman duty, delivering messages, disposing of dead animals, cleaning, and other laborious tasks. This land was hereditary and could not be easily sold or transferred; in this system, the land was not completely private property. Due to this service obligation, the Watandars were essentially bound as bonded laborers to feudal lords or upper castes.
Dr. Ambedkar had been fighting against this system since 1927. In 1937, he even introduced a bill in the Bombay Legislative Council to abolish the Mahar Watan system. His persistent efforts culminated in the Bombay Inferior Village Watan Abolition Act, 1958 (Act I of 1959), which came into effect on January 20, 1959. This Act abolished all inferior watans and merged watan lands with the state. Watandars received land rights under a re-grant, providing for possession after paying three years’ worth of taxes and full ownership after paying 13 years’ worth of taxes.
These laws aimed to transform watan lands into regular agricultural land, although disputes and conflicts over the redistribution and possession of this land continue to this day.
Dr. Ambedkar’s unwavering commitment to equality and social democracy played a crucial role in ending this oppressive practice. This Act proved to be a significant step towards socio-economic justice, paving the way for the end of hereditary exploitation. However, in practice, many watandar families faced challenges in obtaining land rights.
Geetha Sunil Pillai
Courtesy: Hindi News